Arizona

I am appalled with myself that it has taken this long for me to blog about this trip!  That being said...

At the end of January we took a nice little trip down to Arizona to visit my sister & her husband.  We had originally planned on going down there because Josh's brother & family were going to go down there for a week to golf & enjoy the mild weather.  They didn't end up going because Josh's brother had hurt his shoulder & didn't want to be tempted to golf.  So they went to Vegas...but they have golf there so I'm not really sure why they thought that would be a less tempting place.  By the time they had decided this, we had already made our plans & went by ourselves.  It was a lot of fun & very relaxing.  My sister took time off work while we were there & we were just able to hang out & spend time together.  No big outtings but it was so much fun!

One of the days we were down there we went to a local zoo.  Here is Steven holding hands with his Uncle Irwin (my brother-in-law), who he totally adores

Sofia chillin' in her stroller

My beautiful sister, Sammy, with Steven (whom he also adores :) )

Me pushing Sofia in the stroller.  Not too shabby, if I do say so myself ;)

Steven checking out the kangaroos

Irwin showing Steven how to feed this ginormous goose

Steven's favorite perch

Sammy & Sofia

Sofia & I

Yes, you are seeing some mild spousal abuse.  I was annoyed that he wasn't making a good face...but at least it worked! ;)

Steven throwing a temper tantrum. He was very careful about lying down...pretty funny to watch :)

A current favorite picture of myself

Steven feeding the giraffes!

Steven, Irwin, Sofia & I

Steven was quite insistent on pushing Sofia during a walk to a park in Sam's neighborhood

Sofia & I at aforementioned park

I don't know if you can tell but this is Steven looking down through the holes of the jungle gym at me

Steven :) He's reaching up to try to get Sofia's hand

Steven & Sammy going down the slide

Steven & I going down the slides

Steven playing his version of pool, or as he liked to call it, "balls".  He just liked pushing the balls across the table & try to hit the other ones

Sofia :)

Sofia & Sammy

Sofia & Irwin playing with some dominoes

Steven's other favorite game while we were there.  He just liked to play with the cards & take them in & out of the container

Steven playing a game on Sammy's phone while we were at dinner.  He looks like a pro, don't you think? :)

Sammy & I at a really yummy Greek restaurant near their house

The no sugar diet follow-up

Okay, so I know this is a little late. What can I say? I'm just not super good at blogging these days. But to get to the point? How much did I lose is I'm sure the question you're asking (or not, you may not care). Drum roll please: 2.5 pounds. Not exactly what I was going for here. Granted, I did go out to eat twice, but besides that, I honestly did not cheat.  I could have lost that much weight on my own without going crazy on the no sugar thing (I've done it before).  I don't know that I would've lost the 9 pounds that the plan claims you can lose but I probably would've lost another pound or so if I hadn't eaten out. 
I was very surprised by doing this diet at how much sugar is in most foods.  It definitely has made me more aware of that fact & I've been trying to be more conscious of what I buy because of that.  I won't be making the life style change that the book suggests (cutting out nearly all sugar) but I'm definitely trying to be better about what I eat & especially how much sugar I let my kids have.
Honestly, though, this sadly ended up being kind of pointless in the end.  The day after I ended the diet was Easter so there was lots of candy & good food to be had.  The week after that was a super, super busy one so I wasn't watching what I was eating as much as I should've been nor did I make the time to work out very much.  Last week wasn't much better so I have to admit that I gained back the 2.5 lbs that I lost during that week.  Boo.  For whatever reason I don't have much motivation right now to be healthy or work out which is no good.  I know I need to change that because having this kind of attitude is what got me to what I weighed when I got pregnant with Steven.  I don't want that!  What do you do to motivate yourself when you've gotten into a little slump??

5K

So, it's official!  I just registered for my first 5K EVER!  I'm pretty excited.  It's still a month a way so I'm feel pretty good that I'll be able to train enough so I don't look like a complete moron during the race.  The race is to raise money for kids who have diabetes, always a great cause.  (You can look at the site for the race here)  This is a really short post but I'm pretty excited about it & hope I can do well :)

Current Fad

Okay, so looking back at some of my posts, I've come to realize that I don't always follow through with some of my goals or resolutions.  That being said, I have a new goal!  And since this goal will only last a week, I think I have a good chance to accomplishing it! ;)
This past Thursday (as in 2 days ago), I was at my sister's house babysitting her kids.  On her coffee table she had this book called "The Belly Fat Cure". (You can look at the website that goes along with the book here if you really want to.)  The basis of the book is quick weight loss (at least during the first week you do it) by virtually cutting out sugars but continuing to eat "good" carbs (whole grains, stuff with lots of fiber, etc.).  Lately I've noticed myself gaining a few pounds.  I am able to maintain my weight if I pay attention to it, but while I wasn't paying attention to it, a good 5-7 lbs crept up on me.  The concept behind the book does make some sense & I like the idea of losing "belly fat" (the book promises you a reduced waistline) so I figured I could try it for a week.  There is one main ideology in this book that I don't agree with: basically that all sugar is bad & therefore you should basically cut out all fruits & a lot of vegetables because they contain fructose & you can get those nutrients in supplement form.  I am a firm believer in eating a colorful plate (lots of colorful fruits & veggies with your meal) & that fruits & vegetables should make up a large portion of your diet.  After this week, I am definitely not going to stick to the "no fruits & hardly any veggies" rule.  Cutting out a chunk of refined sugar?  That I'm okay with.  I have made up a meal plan for the next 7 days & plan to follow it to the letter.  If I can see exactly what I should be eating, I think I'll have an easier time sticking to it.  Also, I plan on working out every day as well so that should help, too.  We'll see how it goes!  I'm hoping for good results. :)

Steven is officially TWO & A HALF!!

Steven is now officially two & a half! He is getting so big! I'm so glad he's in our family, he's such a blessing in our lives! He can be a handful & he can be so independent it can be infuriating, but I definitely wouldn't trade him for anything :) Here are some updates on our little man:

-He's getting taller but I don't think he really weighs much more than he did 6 months ago (he's about 25 pounds)...
-He's talking really well & starting to pronounce words really well. He actually says "Thank You" instead of his own smushed version of the phrase. He also repeats new words really well. He says "Ohhhhh" a lot when we answer a question of his (it's very cute). :) He has just started to sing a little bit & loves to sing along with a toy of his that sings the ABC's (I have a video of that at the end of this post). At church he'll sit on Josh's lap & point out the words with Josh. He also is no dummy. He knows if you didn't understand what he said. If you just try to skip over something by saying, "Ohhh." or "Yeah." or "Really?" & you really had no idea what he said, he will repeat what he was saying until you get it. There's no fooling this kid :)

-He loves to read. He has a current favorite book. It's just a picture book with dinosaurs & the only words on the pages are the colors of the dinosaurs. He already recognizes all the letters & is even starting to know what letters make what sounds. One day Josh was reading this dinosaur book with Steven & pointing out the words to him. He would say, "B-R-O-W-N. BROWN," all the while pointing to the letters and then sliding his finger across the word as he said it. Steven loves to sit with his book now and do the same thing. He'll point at & say each letter & then slide his finger across the letter while reading it. I love watching him do that! He also has these flash cards that we practice with him & he does the same thing to them. If he doesn't know the word, he'll still sometimes slide his finger across the word but not say anything. So cute!

-He still loves his baby sister but is not always super nice to her. He'll push her down or pull her hair or grab her while she's crawling. Usually he won't admit to being mean (but really, even if I didn't see it happen, who else is it going to be?) but one afternoon he came up to me a little while after I'd calmed Sofia down from Steven's most recent "attack". He said to me, "Mommy, I pull Sofia's hair." Just out of the blue. Randomly. I have no idea why but it was cute, even though he'd hurt his sister. Because of the fairly often random acts of mean-ness, Sofia gets easily agitated when Steven's around. Even when Steven really is being genuinely sweet & trying to give her a kiss, she'll still sometimes start crying. I know most of the "tough love" is really because Steven wants to play with her & most of the time I know he's not intentionally trying to hurt her. We're going to have some good times as they grow up :)
-He's definitely an independent little kid!  Sometimes he is less so, but most of the time he has to do things by himself.  He prefers to put on his shoes by himself but also prefers to put them on the wrong feet.  He doesn't get nearly as mad as he used to when we put on his shoes (especially on the right feet) but when he does it himself, he will, without fail, put his shoe on the wrong foot unless we tell him otherwise.  He likes to eat all by himself, & generally he does a pretty good job, but he will get mad at us for trying to tell him how to do it better or help him, but then gets mad, too, when the food won't stay on his fork.  I like to think that he must have a lot of confidence in himself to be so independent, & I'm glad about that, but it really can get frustrating when he insists on doing it himself, especially when it takes twice as long to do it.
-Steven is definitely a movie lover.  We don't own many movies period, let alone kids movies, so he watches the same 6 or so movies over & over.  Last week I was feeling very much done with the movies he has & talked to Josh about maybe trying to find him a few cheap movies online or from Wal-mart or somewhere.  Josh suggested something else.  When my in-laws moved from their house last year, my mother-in-law gave all of her old kids' VHS movies to my sister-in-law.  Her intent was that we (meaning myself & my two sister-in-laws) could share the movies & trade amongst ourselves.  This was a great idea, except for the fact that Josh & I have never owned a VCR as a married couple.  When my mother-in-law found this out, she gave us her old VCR/DVD player so we could watch those movies.  When she gave it to us, Steven was so into movies so we hadn't actually set it up.  Last weekend, Josh went & borrowed several movies from my sister-in-law for Steven to watch.  He had no idea what to make of them when he first saw the tapes.  He picked one up & said, "Read a book, Mommy?"  Then he opened it & moved the tape out of the way & repeated the question.  A little while later he handed me the case & said, "Open, Mommy" [thinking it was a DVD case].  He gets that they're movies now but it was pretty funny to watch him figure it out.  It also made me realize how much I don't miss VHS tapes...
Here are some recent pictures :)

Steven & Sofia enjoying bath time :)

We stayed at Josh's parents' house with Josh's younger brother while they were away.  This is the bed Steven slept on.  He liked being in such a big bed :)

I think that's a pretty good action shot - he was jumping on the bed :)

This was when Sofia was just starting to crawl every where.  Steven was showing her the way :)

This was on Valentine's Day.  You can't see much of the table, but Josh actually set it all up :)

Steven got a cute giraffe from Grandma & Papa

Steven got "Woody" from Toy Story for Valentine's Day.  I don't know what I was thinking not getting one for him for Christmas!  I didn't want to wait until this birthday so I got it for him then.  He loves it! :)

Talking to Woody

Oh how fickle love is.  Steven putting Woody in time out.  He does this to his toys sometimes.  And the babysitter.  And occasionally  he tries to put us in time out ;)

My little boy cheesin' it up :)

So Steven got that hat from my sister for his birthday last year & he'd never wanted to wear it.  The other day, though, he saw it in his closet & decided to put it on.  He insists on wearing it slightly high on his head...maybe it's a little small?  He also loves his Shrek pajamas (he's wearing the top but you can't really tell) & I just love his jean jacket.  What a stud ;)

Steven sorting puff-balls into colors

These next two are videos.  The first one is of Steven singing along with this fridge leap-frog toy he has...he's singing the ABC's

Such a great day :)

Yesterday was just a great day.  I started out the day by being able to sleep in, which is a rare thing when you have kids.  Then I was able to go to an awesome zumba class at the gym.  I really am loving zumba!  I'm so glad my sister-in-law introduced me to it :)  The instructor yesterday was a guy, which I don't think is super common for zumba teachers, but he is so good!  He has such a great energy & totally gets into it which makes me feel less like a dork :)  Plus, all those endorphins really help my mood for the rest of the day :)
Last night Josh & I were able to go on a date, too.  I love being able to go out with just my husband.  We went to see Battle LA & it was pretty good.  If you like war/action movies, you'll definitely like this one.  I hadn't heard much about it before we saw it but I was happy with it.  Afterwards we went to the Macaroni Grill.  I always hesitate a little bit to get something new at a restaurant when I know I like certain things.  I got what I normally get, which is always good, but Josh got something new.  It was a chicken pasta dish & it was AMAZING!  I normally don't like chicken unless it's in something because I think it's usually somewhat bland & dry.  This chicken was unlike any other I've ever had...it was so juicy & flavorful!  Yum.  It's food like that that makes me really not care that I have a few extra unwanted pounds on me.  (It's good to have experiences like that for me because it loosens me up when I get too worried about my weight.)  :)  So if you go to the Macaroni Grill any time soon, get the bruschetta appetizer, the chicken scallopine, & the chocolate cake :)
The other thing that just made the day that much better was that we found out how much we're getting back for our tax return.  I was thinking we'd probably get about the same amount back as we did last year but we're getting DOUBLE that amount!  I was really surprised but super excited when I found that out :) 
Yay for good days :) 

New Years Goals Progress

Well it's been two months since the first of the year & I think I'm doing okay at my goals so far. I joined 24 Hour Fitness because through work I was able to get a membership for $15/mo with NO CONTRACT! Yay! I only joined two weeks ago but I've gone 4 times each week since then. Before that I was able to work out 3+ times/week during most weeks. I haven't really lost any weight though because my eating hasn't been spot on. I've started to go to some Zumba classes at 24 Hour & I have to say that I LOVE THEM! I went to one before Sofia was born & honestly wasn't all that taken with it, mostly because I had no idea how to do the moves they were doing. After I had Sofia, though, my sister-in-law Chirin lent me some Zumba instructional DVD's & they totally made a difference (Chirin has since become a certified Zumba instructor! Yay!). The first one I went to there was barely enough room for everyone to dance without hitting each other. It was such a good time, though! The energy in those classes is so great & it's a really good workout. I went to one this past Saturday after working Friday night & not getting a ton of sleep & it did me so much good. They offer 4 Zumba classes a week at the gym near me so I'm going to try to go to at least 2 classes a week. I'm super stoked :)

Another one of my goals was to start broadening my reading horizons by reading at least one new book a month & try books from different genres. I am proud to say that I've read 3 books so far! Go me :)
The first book I read was called Clockwork Angel by Cassandra Clare. It's the first in the pseudo-prequel series to the "Mortal Instruments" series (a.k.a City of Bones, City of Ashes, etc.). It's not really from a different genre than my normal books but it was a new book & I finished it at the end of the month & I didn't have enough time to read another one so I'm counting it. It was a really great book! I think that Cassandra Clare is a very good author. She is a first time writer & has been compared to Stephenie Meyer. I have to say that I think that Clare is a better writer & that I also prefer the "Mortal Instruments" series to "Twilight". (I'm not saying I no longer like "Twilight" so no Twi-hearts freak out on me please! ;) ) Both series are in the fantasy genre but I just find Clare's characters & plot more organic & believeable. Clockwork Angel takes place about 200 years before City of Bones but it is about the same "race" of people if you will. Some of the surnames are the same but I don't know if the series are going to be connected in any way yet. The book is about a young girl who comes to England after both of her parents & aunt has died to live with her brother there. She finds that she is not really who she thought she was all of her life but by the end of the book they still haven't decided what exactly she is. The characters are great & the plot keeps you interested until the very end. I'm really looking forward to the next in this series & I would definitely recommend it to anyone!

The second book I read was Persuasion by Jane Austen. One of my goals in life is to read all of Jane Austen's books (I haven't ready any) so I figured I'd start now. I've seen both of the film versions of Pride & Prejudice & Sense & Sensibility so I decided to start off by reading one that I didn't know the story of. Like most (if not all) of Austen's stories, the plot centers around a young woman (well, not so young actually, the main character is approaching the old age of 28!) who is trying to find the love of her life. This story is different, though, in that she had found love in her early 20's but let it slip away because he was not a "suitable" match. When the story opens, she has never married but finds out that there is a chance she will be seeing her old love soon. I have to admit that the book was not exactly an "easy" read because it took more concentrating to understand the language than most books I read. It took even more concentration than that because I read nearly all of it in the middle of the night during down-time at work. I liked the story, but it was a little long winded in some aspects (especially regarding the family finances) & it took quite a while to find out why Anne (the main character) was still single at 27. It's definitely interesting to get an insight into the thoughts & lives of people from the 1800's & to see that what they took so seriously is still what we today take seriously (i.e. money, position, finding "the one"), just with different spins on each side. At first I thought how silly the things were that the character's lives revolved around but when you think about it, we are really not so different today, if not more so engrossed in our money & possesions. It wasn't my favorite of all time but it kept me reading & interested so that's pretty good in my book :)

The most recent one that I read, & actually finished last night, was called Once a Spy by Keith Thomson. I found it at one of those "recommended reads" displays at my library & thought it looked intersting. It's a thriller whose plot centers around a former spy who now has Alzheimer's & therefore could be a potential security risk for the agency he used to work for. His son gets pulled into the middle of things, at first for his own selfish reason. As the story progresses & the son discovers what his father's life really was like, their relationship starts to change & evolve. It was definitely a different twist on the spy/thriller bit & I thought it was a fun read.